LOOSE STEERING WHEEL...

[creekman]

2003 C4S

 

You fix one thing and another shows up unannounced and usually unwanted.... We successfully removed the gas tank, made repairs and were successful

fixing a leak and stopped escaping fumes.  See my earlier post... "Removing the gas tank on a 996 C4S"

 

When I asked my helper if the steering shaft went back in from where it had been, Josh said yes...  Josh didn't mark the parts, he just relied on nothing had moved.  Over 3 months and moving parts around we ended up with the steering wheel about 20 degrees out of sync with the wheels.  Plus, we had a dead spot in the neutral wheel position.  We decided that the dead spot was from lack of bleeding.

 

I left a post to confirm I could re-clock the steering wheel...  JFP in PA replies (the guy must never sleep) yes...  I disconnected the battery, waited the suggested 30 minutes or more to disconnect the steering wheel airbag.  I moved the wheel to sycn the steering wheel to the front wheels, all of a sudden after tightening down the steering shaft nut I find the dead spot in the steering...

 

3 spoke factory steering wheel, at least I assume so since it has a 996 P/N. Immediately I see that the splines in the pot metal wheel hub are nearly non-existent. The steering shaft is not tapered.  The shaft nut (24mm or a 15/16 6pt)keeps the wheel from leaving the car, but the steering wheel rotates on the steering shaft before engaging the steering rack.  There's so little engagement of the splines that it worries me that the wheel could rotate further creating more than a small dead spot.  And why wasn't it doing the same thing before now...

 

All suggestions, comments, are always appreciated...

 

Mitch

[judgejon]

Oh no.  Unbelievable.  How could you possibly steer the car?

No real clue except figure out part numbers and have fun.

With some decent splines remaining, I wonder about a thin wrap of foil or sheet metal, And then just pounding the wheel down on it?  I may have seen that in a cartoon.  It might actually work in a cartoon or McEiver episode.

how could this have happened?

best thoughts, Mitch.  good luck, jl

 

[creekman]

Jon, 

 

After writing this white paper, I hate to admit this, the steering wheel isn't loose on the steering shaft.  There still could be air in the system because my car has a remote reservoir some distance away from the rack and pinion.

 

What got me to this major concern and observation is a math problem.  When you turn the wheel The nut and shaft rotate maybe an 1/8", but the steering wheel rim turns/rotates maybe 1.5" do to the larger diameter.  All the bolting and shaft engagement are good so nothing is going to come apart.  We have a good alignment shop in the next town west, if nothing changes after putting some miles on the car I'll make an appointment with the alignment shop.

 

Oh, to answer your question, "how did this happen"...  We had to take down the gas tank to solve a gas leak and a bad solenoid in the charcoal recovery system. everything under the gas tank had to be removed including the rack and pinion / plus suspension parts.  Actually I had the same idea of using aluminum foil, or as you suggested brass shim stock.

 

Well Jon I'm glad to see you're still on the job...

[judgejon]

All best…. jl

[creekman]

2003 996 C4S - 93,000 miles

 

Well folks I'm still at it... One thing leads to another... After making the gas tank repair and replacing $1,000 of solenoids and valves everything that needed fixing got fixed.  But the collateral damage that was left was leaking boots on the tie rod ends of the steering rack and pinion.  I'm not sure if they leaked before or sitting around the seals dried out, but they needed replacing.  I found a company in Escondido, CA that replaces all of this and return the rack with factory finishes.

 

The other issue is a sensor (Potentiometer) that is connected to the big aluminum support for the rack and pinion.  I told my parts man it must be part of the PSM and since the car has over 90,000 miles, plus I have a fault that will not cancel with my Durametric program it might be wise to replace it   This sensor is shown on the 403 illustration, item 18 of the PET.  But it's label just as sensor (996 631 121 00).  My parts man comes back and says the sensor is part of the headlight adjustment.  I told him no way... The lighting body is attached by 3 fairly adjusting long bolts.

 

Could it be the sensor adjust the ride height and thus the entire car raises up or down.  If that's the case the sensor would be part of the suspension.  We put a multimeter on the electrical socket of the original socket and there was no change of resistance when the arm was moved. 

 

 

Edited August 10, 2022 by creekman
Forgot the attachment...

[JFP in PA]

That is the headlight level sensor for the Litronic system:

 

Headlight level sensor @ Sunset Porsche

[creekman]

JFP in PA, I thought I would get support that the sensor had nothing to with the headlights...  Then there's a motor inside the light housing that follows the input/output of the sensor.  If that was the case the headlights would be jumping up and down as the road conditions change.

 

I wonder how many owners with the Litronic headlights know of this feature.

[JFP in PA]

A lot, for a simple reason: All HID headlight cars made in Europe are required to have an automatic headlight leveling system that detects when the car's riding attitude has changed (like if someone is sitting the back seat, or some cargo is in a normally empty rear trunk) and automatically changes the level of the headlight beam's upper cut off to prevent blinding oncoming drivers.  All Porsche's with factory installed Litronic headlights have this feature, and it is a common source of headlight related error codes when the system loses one or more of the sensors (there is one at each wheel).  The system is routed through the DME and the "on the fly" adjustments are usually subtle enough that the driver does not even notice it during normal driving, other than the headlight beams remain even and at the same level, regardless of what the car is doing at the time.

 

You mentioned you have a code showing, what is that code?

[judgejon]

Friends,

Way over my head, but fun to read.

reminds me of when I was always over-running my headlights on low beam over a particularly curvy highway.  Solution was to manually adjust each headlight up just a bit. 
high beams then much more affective as well.  Downside was occasional getting “flashed” when driving at night in traffic in town. Oh well….

[creekman]

JFP... Good explanation, then much like the quiet setting on the exhaust, another Government reg....  I didn't have a code for the head lights, the code I

have is ABS and PSM.  I have not been able to erase either of those codes with a comom OSB reader or my Durametric program.  You had said early on that I'd have to have the dealer reset the steering angle after removing the gas tank.  I thought that maybe I can't remove the two codes until I have the steering angle set.  I have a shop nearby that has all the Porsche data in his alignment system, but cannot do the steering angle. My plan was to take the car to the dealer and have the steering angle set, then let my local alignment shop finish the alignment. I just hate paying the dealer shop prices.

 

[creekman]

Well I'm still at it, I won't give up.  We have isolated the slop in the steering column too the second universal or the adapter, both will be suspects...

Does anyone have any experience how to get these 2 parts out for inspection.  The rubber boot covers everything I'd like to se

Edited August 24, 2022 by creekman
Pix didn't load... Then when I submitted I had 2 pics of the same thin...

[JFP in PA]

Can't see the attached photos.🤥

 

OK, they have now appeared!

[JFP in PA]

Hate to be the bearer of more grief, but the steering shaft comes out though the bottom of the car, after you have moved the steering rack you just put back in out of the way.  And I have no idea if that lower joint is sold as a part, but the entire assembly is in the neighborhood of $2K 😵

 

[creekman]

6 hours ago, JFP in PA said:

Hate to be the bearer of more grief, but the steering shaft comes out though the bottom of the car, after you have moved the steering rack you just put back in out of the way.  And I have no idea if that lower joint is sold as a part, but the entire assembly is in the neighborhood of $2K 😵

 

I've had the rack rebuilt, but we already had figured out that you have to have the column rods in place with the install.  However, your pronouncement that the rest of the steering comes out the bottom is news.  At this point we weren't sure, so thanks for that....

 

No. 1 Could be a suspect, I say that as we have checked everything up to no. 2.  I'll attach a pic of the shaft end of no.1

No. 2 We can hold the steering wheel to be sure there was no play in the steering wheel connection, we removed the steering wheel and turned No. 1 by re attaching the the female splined other half.

No 3.  The books book calls it adapter.  But you can't fix it if you an't get at it... What bothers me is the play in the steering wheel is so obvious
What bothers me is if the alignment is off a tad and that could produce the steering wheel play.  

 

 

This is the end of No. 1, from the top you can see the rubber bellows that I attached

yesterday.

 

 

 

No. 1 and 2 are a fine piece of work but there is a through bolt that pinces down on the male spline, I say that because that's how they handle the one off the steering rack

That leaves us wih the adapter?  How big/bad of a job is it to get that down.

Edited August 24, 2022 by creekman
Typos

[JFP in PA]

Here is a photo of the entire column out of the car:  

 

 

The lower section comes out the bottom of the car, the upper section pulls out from inside the car after about half the dash is removed.  There are two "universal" joints on the lower section, one right at the rack end, and a second one under the boot.  The lower joint uses a pinch bolt to connect to the rack, but working from memory, the upper may be held in by roll pins, but I am not sure on that point. I haven't had one of these apart in a long time.  The lower joint is the one that wears the most due to the angle it operates on, and because it is exposed to the elements more than the upper unit.

 

[JFP in PA]

 

The lower shaft section for a 4WD 996 is 996-347-023-02, retails for around $412 and includes both joints

[creekman]

22 hours ago, JFP in PA said:

Hate to be the bearer of more grief, but the steering shaft comes out though the bottom of the car, after you have moved the steering rack you just put back in out of the way.  And I have no idea if that lower joint is sold as a part, but the entire assembly is in the neighborhood of $2K 😵

 

First off I've spent hours trying to reply with attachments, this has always been easy without problems.  Apple seems to have an upgrade every couple of weeks, fixings bugs and improving security.  I wish they would just leave things be...

 

The rack has not been installed because then you wouldn't have room to install the column rods.  Unfortunately we thought the lower rod with the aluminum female spline and rag would be the culprit, but it's tight.  The problem is going to be with the housing under the dash  as you pictured above.  Is that unit serviceable...  Not sure why this has happen, I have 93,000 miles on the car and don't autocross or abuse the car.  

 

JFP, I cannot begin to find the words  to thank you for your help and support.  As a DIYer you isolate yourself from going to the dealer or an Indy if there was one here.  Stay tuned, film at eleven...

 

[JFP in PA]

That unit is available from Porsche only as an assembly, for about $1,900 (996-347-007-10, part #1 in the diagram above).  To my knowledge, Porsche never made any components of the upper assembly available as parts, just the entire unit. You may be able to find one out of low milage wreck for less. And getting out is a whole lot of fun, but I think you are getting used to that by now 😵

[creekman]

JFP,  Looking at the above pictured of the steering unit, it would seem that my attachment with No. 1 is the last spline/bolted part?  From the No. 1 universal to the steering wheel spline it must be just a solid rod with support bearings.

 

There's no play in the rack, no play in the rag and the lower universal .  So unless I'm missing something it has to be the upper universal.  If that's the case the under dash housing still has to come out.  That's a lot of work if I've missed something.  This isn't a wear problem, it's a broken problem because it just happen, and it happen concurrently after removing the gas tank.

[JFP in PA]

The circled part in your photo above is considered part of the "upper shaft" assembly, which includes the splined shaft that connects to the "lower assembly".  Porsche does make the circled u joint available as part number (996-347-023-02) for about $400 "lower shaft assembly" which includes everything down to the u joint that connects to the rack:

 

Installation is flat out a *****, because your need to separate the two segments of the lower shaft assembly, attach the splined shaft and upper u joint to the assembly under the dash, reinstall that, then install the other half from underneath the car onto the splined shaft.

 

And for the life of me, I cannot think of why removing the gas tank could lead to this.

[creekman]

The lower parts are already separated.  I've got to figure out how to move the car away from the lift so we have access to the interior (that's one problem with a 2 post lift, you can't open the doors all the way), remove the driver's seat and have at it.

 

I'll first be sure that the universal can't be bought separately if that's the problem, I don't know what's going on in the housing, but I can't believe it's any more than a shaft supported by bearings at either end.

 

Also, I wonder if the lower universal could be modified to be used for the upper universal...  Just to be sue, we slid the lower female spline end into the male at the upper joint, we removed the steering wheel and clamped vice grips on the steering wheel post, I held the vice grps from turning and Josh had play, and he held I turned.  The play is completely loose, no bind or grind.  I agree there's no connection between the gas tank and this problem.

 

Thanks again,

 

P.S. Not sure why this fun stuff happens to me, maybe the Porsche Gods are getting even with me for installing that 480 HP fire breathing V8...

[JFP in PA]

Take the driver's seat out, that will give you a lot more working room to get the dash apart and the upper section out of the car.

 

As for why, a long time ago I learned to accept that fecal matter occurs. 

[creekman]

Ya, I know you're right... Glad you haven't lost your sense of humor...  I just didn't need this right now as I'm knee deep in finishing a 5 year restomod project...

[JFP in PA]

14 minutes ago, creekman said:

Ya, I know you're right... Glad you haven't lost your sense of humor...  I just didn't need this right now as I'm knee deep in finishing a 5 year restomod project...

 

When you spend a portion of your life trying to install parts you cannot find into an access point you cannot reach on a car that requires a special tool you don't have, you tend to develop a strong sense of humor 😉

[Loren]

1 hour ago, JFP in PA said:

 

When you spend a portion of your life trying to install parts you cannot find into an access point you cannot reach on a car that requires a special tool you don't have, you tend to develop a strong sense of humor 😉

 

and scars....